I believe that the believer who
reads the Psalms, who is able to rejoice and meditate upon
the Psalms, will be better able to handle
difficult times and trials and troubles on this earthly voyage
and journey. Let me repeat that. The believer
who is able to read and rejoice and meditate on the Psalms will better, will be able to
better handle the difficult times and troubles and trials through
this journey. And this psalm this morning that
I've chosen is a psalm of David, as most psalms are. Moses wrote some of them. But David is the author of this
one, the man after God's own heart. And he says in verse 1,
the Lord is my light and my salvation. Now David lived Many years before
the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, of whom does he speak here? The
Lord is my life and my salvation. He speaks of Christ. Like Abraham, David rejoiced
to see the day of Christ. He saw it and was glad. Like
Moses, he wrote of Christ. This is the Savior, the Lord
Jesus he's talking about. If you look at Psalm 110, Psalm
110, and Peter the Apostle quoted this statement of David on Pentecost
in Acts 2. David wrote, the Lord said to
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool." And our Lord Jesus quoted that
to the Pharisees. He said, How can he be David's
Lord and be David's son? They didn't understand, but David
did. David wrote again, Thou shalt not leave my body in the
grave, or suffer thy holy one to seek corruption. Of whom did
he say that? Well, Peter said, His bones are
with us to this day. He wrote of Christ. So here in
this psalm, he says, the Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah, God my
Savior, Jehovah the Lord. When you see that word Lord capitalized
like that, all four letters capitalizes Jehovah, God my Savior. He says
he's my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my daily life, of whom shall I be afraid? He
is my light. David doesn't say the Lord gives
us light. No, he does. He enlightens us. But he is our light. He himself
is my light. He doesn't just provide salvation,
though he does, but he is our salvation, the Lord himself. Christ is my life. Christ is
my salvation. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul wrote
these words. Of him, of God, are you in Christ? You're in Christ. Chosen in Christ. Redeemed in Christ. Accepted
in Christ. in Christ, who of God is made
unto us. He is our wisdom. Righteousness,
he is our holiness. Sanctification, he is our acceptance. Redemption, he is our redemption. When Christ is our light, we
see. When Christ is our salvation,
we don't fear. We don't fear Satan. We don't
fear the curse of the law. We don't fear death, we don't
fear judgment, because he's our light and our salvation. And
when he's the strength of our life, I'm sort of divided that
the Lord is my light and my salvation. I don't fear Satan. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and
powers. You know, he says over here, our enemies. Satan's our enemy, our adversary. We don't fear Satan when he's
my light and my salvation. And we don't fear the curse of
the law. He's redeemed us from the curse of the law. We don't
fear death. We sing about it. We rejoice in it. We anticipate
it. Its gain is to be present with
the Lord. And we don't fear judgment, because
there's no judgment to them who are in Christ. But you can't
say that unless he is your light and your salvation. Whom shall
I fear? He has delivered those who all
their lifetime were in fear, because he has conquered death
and destroyed our enemies. But the second part of this,
the Lord's the strength of my life, my daily life. He's the
strength. That word strength means a defense. That word strength is taken from
this illustration, a fortified city,
or a rock. The Lord is each day The Lord
is a strength of my daily life. He's my fortress. He's my rock. He's my foundation. I read an
article one time that said people are troubled daily with six fears. Anxieties. Fears. Six fears. It plagues us day by day. This
author said, fear poverty. But we don't fear poverty if
he's our fortress and our rock and the strength of my day. Like
David said, I've been old, I've been young, now I'm old, but
I've never seen God see baked bread. And our Lord said, he feeds his
father, will he not much more feed you? whole year of little
faith. So if he's the strength of my
daily life, daily existence, I don't fear poverty. Like our article in the Bulletin
said that, I don't know how bread will come, but it may come by
raven, but it'll come if I'm God's child. And secondly, people
fear ill health. They fear the next disease or
sickness that's around the corner. But we don't, because we know
that all things work together for good to them who love God,
who are called according to His purpose. And there may be many
second, third, and fourth causes, but there's one first cause,
that's God. Whatever comes to pass in our
lives, God ordained it, ordered it, willed it, and He'll use
it for our good and His glory. Is that not correct? But we don't
fear it then. And thirdly, they fear rejection. Rejection. But David said down
here in verse 10, my mother and father may forsake me. That's
not, that's highly unlikely in most cases, but that's extreme
illustration, isn't it? But he said, if they do, the
Lord will take me out. I have a friend that's stick
as close as an abrupt who always and ever, always has, ever will
and does not love me. And I'm his and he's mine. My
beloved is mine and I'm his. And then people feel old age.
Our people won't even talk about it. They don't want you to say,
is this your 71st or 72nd or 80th birthday? Don't mention
that. God's blessed you with years,
aren't you grateful? But the hymn writer said, even
down to old age, all my people shall prove one thing, my sovereign,
eternal, unchangeable love will change and decay all around me,
I say, O thou that changest not, abide with me. And I'm growing
old on the outside, but the inner man, what's that say? It's renewed day by day. I'm weaker outside, but I'm not
weaker inside, by his grace. I find more comfort in Christ
than I ever have before. More joy in the Lord, more gratitude. Old age is not as bad as you
young folks think it is. Not nearly. I promise you, I
wouldn't turn the clock back for one year. Not one. I'm too close to home to go back
over that nest. The fifth thing that people fear
is death. Anxious about death. But Paul
said, we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved,
we have already a house, a building not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. And this murder must put on immortality,
and this weakness must put on strength, and this shame must
put on glory. And then shall be brought to
pass the saying, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where
is thy sting? Put away calumny. O grave, where
is your victory? The grave will not have the victory
over a single one of God's people, not one. I raise him at the last
day. He that seeth the sun and believeth
on him, I raise him. And the sixth thing, he said,
people, fear is judgment. condemnation. But there's no
judgment to them who are in Christ. So the Lord is my light and my
salvation. I can't speak for everybody else.
I wish I could. I wish I could say that about
everybody I know. But I know the Lord is my light.
He's your light. I don't have any other light.
Everything else is darkness. And he's my salvation. He is
my salvation. If he's my light, my salvation,
whom shall I fear? They're all subject to him. He
has all power over all things. And he's the strength of my life.
He is my life. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, and yet not I. But the life that
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
by the word of the Son of God, by the will of the Son of God,
by the grace of the Son of God, by the strength of the Son of
God. That's how we live. So just don't be anxious about
those things. Poverty, ill health, rejection,
loneliness, old age, death, judgment. It's just ordained of the Lord. And he'll make it work out for
his glory and our glory. Now listen to verse 2. I'm going
to talk a little bit more about what I mentioned a moment ago.
When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to
eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. There were hosts sitting
camp against me. Have I got a host of enemies?
A host? A host? Yes. Yes, sir. And my enemies and my foes are
not human beings. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Not all of them. The major enemies
are spiritual enemies. Ephesians 6 verse 12. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers
of the darkness of this world. There's a host of them. Against
spiritual wickedness in high places, there's a host of them.
Satan is called in the Bible our adversary. He's called the
accuser of the brethren. He's called a roaring lion that
goes about seeking whom he may devour. He's called a tempter. He's called that wicked one.
Our Lord taught us to pray, deliver us from the evil one. And that's who he's talking about here.
When the wicked, the wicked. I know the religious people who
despise the gospel, despise us. I know that. They despise our
Lord. But they come and go. But this
wicked one, this enemies and foes, and over here in verse
12, deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies. False
witnesses. Satan is a false witness. He
doesn't tell the truth. He's a liar from the beginning,
Christ said. He came before the Lord. When
the sons of God appeared before the Lord, Satan came among them,
Lucifer came among them, and the Lord said, Have you considered
my servant Job? A righteous man, one that fears
God and avoids evil. Satan liar. Satan liar. He said, Job just loves you because
you're good to him. You've hazed him about all of
his property and his children and his I said, I don't think
he loves you. He's a liar, he's an accuser
of the brethren. False witness. And the Lord said,
well, I'll turn Job over to you, and you take away what he has. You take away what he has. Satan
said, you take away what he has, he'll curse you to your face.
Well, take it away. So Satan, second causes. He stirred up these enemies and
they sent a wind and killed his ten children. Sent the civilians
and the other folks to take away his cattle and sheep. And Job
said the Lord gave and the Lord took it away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. Worship God. Satan came back
again in chapter 2 of Job and appeared before the Lord. And
the Father said, you consider my servant Job? None like him. Well, I tell you this, Satan
said, skin for skin, skin for skin, if you touch his body and
bring him down into pain and agony, he'll crush you to your
face. The Father said, he's in your
hands. Don't kill him. You can't get it. Do what you
will, but don't get it. Job was drained of everything. Boils all over his body. Pain, agony. And he said, though
he slayed me, I'll trust him. He's alive, that bird he is. But he'll accuse you, false witnesses,
of using up against me. Breathe out cruelty. I tell them
every enemy has our own sinful flesh. This nature wars against
that new nature. Oh, we have a new nature, a new
heart, a new spirit. We're the creatures in Christ. But we have an old nature left
over. It causes a lot of conflict.
He prepares the table before us in the presence of our enemy.
That's right. Though a host should encamp against
me, verse 3, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this will I be confident that the Lord is my
light and my salvation. In this will I be confident the
Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is the strength of my
life of my days. Now today's religion, now listen
to me. And I guess we live in the most
blasphemous, anti-Christ, anti-truth, anti-grace,
religion that's ever been on the face of this earth, right
now. This religion of health and wealth and prosperity tries to deny the presence of
trials and suffering in the lives of God's people. Everything's
coming up roses, that's what they're God wants you to be healthy. God wants you to be wealthy.
God wants you to be prosperous. God wants you to do this, that,
and the other. And if you're not, all these things, because
of your weak faith, if you get right with God, these things
will all go away, as if they never happened. They deny the storms, and the
wind, and the dry places, and the weary days. Turn to Isaiah
32. They deny those things. I heard
a preacher recently turn to Isaiah 32. In the meantime, also turn to
3 John, the little book of 3 John. The little book of 3 John. Only
one chapter. Only a few verses. But John is
writing to his friend Gaius in 3 John. He's writing to his friend
Gaius. And John says in 3 John verse
1 and 2, the elder, John's an elder, he's an elder. The elder
unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth, I love
you in Christ, brother. Beloved, I wish above all things
that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as our soul
prospers. Gaius was a godly man, a believer
who loved God. A man who, John said, his soul
prospered in grace. And John said, this is my wish
for you. The elder to the beloved gaze.
I wish, above all things, that you may prosper and that you may be in health
as your soul prospers. I had a preacher recently tell
his congregation, this is what God wishes above all things. He read the scriptures as if
God said it. God didn't say this, John said
it to Gaius. God didn't say it to all his
children, John said it to his friend. It's like me writing
to Jim Eccles or Carter Brown saying, and I can say this, brethren,
I wish you could prosper and be in health as long as God lets
you live. It hurts me when you're sick.
I wish this. But that may not be God's will.
It's what I wish. And he told his congregation,
I sat and listened to him on television. He told the congregation,
this is God's will for you to be prosperous and healthy. And here's the key, a prosperous
soul. The more you study, and work,
and labor, the more you'll prosper in the end. Oh me. That's so sad. They deny this,
they deny Isaiah 32. Listen to this scripture. Isaiah 32, Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a
man, the God-man, Christ Jesus, shall be a hiding place from
the wind. Brethren, there's going to be some wind. Some cold wind
will blow. Difficult times, but we have
a hiding place. We're not going to be left out
in the gale. We have a hiding place, Christ Jesus. And a covert
from the tempest. What's that tempest? It's a storm.
Keep me safe till the storm passes by. Don't deny the storm. But
we have a hiding place. We have a refuge. A covert is a refuge. I'm going
to have a lot of storms. But just like when I used to
get hurt, I'd go crawl up in my mom's lap. That's my refuge. And I'll tell you, when we're
hurt, we have a refuge. A hiding place. You're going
to hurt. It's going to be wind and storm, and then rivers of
water and a dry place. There's going to be dry places,
lots of them. But we have a well of water springing
up within. And then there's going to be
a weary land. Dreary nights and weary days. But He is our rock. He's our
shade. There's a shadow of a rock in
a weary land. The Lord is my life and my salvation. He's my hiding place. He's my
refuge. He's my water. He's my shade
in all times. See that? All right, go back
to the psalm. In verse 4. And verse 3 closes,
In this will I be confident, Though a host should encamp against
me, My heart will not fear, No war should rise against me. In
this I'll be confident, The Lord is my light and my salvation.
He's the strength of my life. Now then, one thing have I desired
of the Lord, and that will I seek after. Now these two words, one
thing, one thing, David brings it down to one thing, just as
far as I'm going to get this morning, but one thing. These words are used in several
critical situations in the scripture, one thing. In Luke, don't turn to this,
you remember, in Luke 18, 22, there was a man, a young man,
scripture said he was young, a young man, a ruler, a rich
man, a popular, prosperous man, came
to the Lord Jesus and asked him, what good thing shall I do to
inherit eternal life? What good thing should I do?
Well, our Lord said, if you would enter into life by what you do,
then you keep the commandments. Oh, He said, all these have I
kept for my youth. And our Lord said, then go and
sell what you have and give it to the poor and take up your
cross and follow Me. But He said, one thing that I
like is, follow Me. Follow me, one thing, follow
me. And then in Luke chapter 10,
Mary and Martha, Mary was sitting at the feet of Christ and Martha
was cumbered about with much care. And Martha came in and
said, Lord don't you care if my sister leaves all of the work
to me and she sits there and listens to you. He said, Martha
you're cumbered about with much care, but Mary, had chosen the
one thing, one thing, needful. One thing, follow me, one thing,
needful. What was she doing? Sitting at
his feet, hearing his word from his mouth. One thing, necessary,
follow me, one thing, needful, hear my word. Hear my word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. Comfort comes by hearing the
word of God. Growth comes by hearing the word
of God. One thing. Here in John chapter 9, he healed
a blind man. And the Pharisees came to the
blind man, John chapter 9 verse 24, and said, charged him with with causing
problems and difficulties and they said to him in John 9 let
me read it here verse 24 they said to him they called the man that was
blind and they said to him give God the praise this man was praising
Jesus Christ he said give God the praise this man Jesus is
a sinner And this young man, this blind man that's been blind
answered and said, whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know,
but one thing I know. I know what I was, blind. I know what I am, I'm sick. And
I know who did it, Christ did it. One thing I know. And then in Philippians 3, I
do want you to turn to this one. in Philippians 3. One thing,
one thing is necessary, follow me. One thing is needful, hear
my word. One thing is, I know, salvation
is of the Lord. Philippians 3 now, and one thing
I do. In verse, I want you to look
at just verse of Philippians 3, this great apostle, this man
whom God used as much or more than any man, preached to more
people, had more revelations, spoke in more languages. He says
in verse 12, not as though I had already attained, I haven't arrived,
he said, I haven't attained, I haven't I don't know everything. I haven't
attained. And I am already perfect. I'm not perfect. In verse 13
he said, I count not myself to have apprehended. I haven't laid
hold upon that for which Christ has laid hold of me. I haven't
arrived. I am not perfect. And I haven't
laid hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. One thing I do. One thing I do. What is that? It's twofold. This one thing I do. Forgetting
those things which are behind. Get the past, listen to me, get
the past in its proper place. Forget it. That's what he's talking about.
He says, I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. I tried with Benjamin, concerned
with the law, blameless, great Sadducee, Pharisee, Sanhedrin,
forget it. Forgetting those things at your
behalf, forget my struggles and attempts at self-righteousness
in false religion, forget it. That's what he, my struggles
and attempts at self-righteousness in false religion, forget it.
Forget my professions, my experiences, my failures, even in spiritual
infancy, forget it. Forgetting those things which
are behind. Even my labors since conversion,
My growth, my accomplishments, my revolutions, my successes or failures. Forget
them. Forgetting those things which
are behind. And the second part of this, one thing I do, and reaching for it. Reaching. Reaching for it. What is reaching? It's to stretch out. Stretch.
It's not just to take something that falls in my lap. It's to pursue it. Reach for
it. Today. Listen to me today. All right. This one thing I do.
One thing's necessary. Follow Christ. One thing's needful.
Here's what it is. One thing I know, he saved my
soul. I was blind. I was blind as a
bat. Nothing blinder than a blind
preacher. Blind as a bat. He gave me sight. One thing I did, forget the past. Put it in its proper place. Gone. Gone. And reach. Reach. Stretch out. Listen to this. Today, his words being preached
today, reach for it. Reach out and touch the Lord
as he passes by. You'll find he's not too busy
to hear your hearts cry. Pass him by this moment, your
needs to supply. Reach out. Touch the Lord. Today. Well, I used to forget
the past. You're with my daddy, mother,
forget the past. But all those hurt, put it where
it belongs, it's over. And reach out today, here's why. And then reach out to his people
sitting next to you, around you, living in your house. People
that need love, need encouragement, They need help, they need exhortation
today. But what I used to do... Forget
it. Forget it. You've got something to do today.
Build your home. Peace in the home. Joy in the
home. Christ in the home. Love in the
home. You've got a job to do today.
You forget the past. Just one thing I'll do. One blessed
thing. I read one time, a man will never
bow to a hill of bees till he finds one thing and does it well.
One thing. And just one thing I'll do. I've
got some duties. To preach the gospel, duties
to my church, my family, the gospel. And bear good witness
and a good testimony to the gospel. You can't live in the past. You've
got to forget it. Just one thing I'll do. Today, reach out. Reach out. And I'll tell you
tomorrow, my departure's near. Paul said, my departure's at
hand. My eternal glory in Christ is
near. And that's what he says over
here in Philippians 3. Look at it again. I reach, forgetting
the things which are behind, I reach unto those things which
are before, and I press. That word press, look it up if
you want to, that word press is pursue, persevere. My aim, my goal, I press. A runner in a race, he's got
a goal. Got a goal to finish. I press. I pursue, I persevere. My goal
is to be like Christ. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I wake with our likeness. Why'd you get on that? All right,
verse 4 here in our text, Psalm 27. One thing have I desired. One thing is necessary. One thing
is, I like this, necessary, follow Christ. One thing is needful,
is worth. One thing I know, salvation's
of the Lord. One thing I didn't, forget the
past. and reach out and press towards
gold, the prize of the calling of Christ Jesus, my Lord. And
one thing I desire, I need some help to do this, I need a whole
lot of help. So one thing I desire, and that
will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life. to behold the beauty of the Lord
to inquire in his temple." Now, he's not talking about like that girl in the New Testament
that stayed in the temple for her whole life. That's not staying
in the building. And that's not talking about
dwelling in heaven. I may dwell in the house of the
Lord. He's talking about now, all the days of my life. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
to inquire in his temple. When I get to glory, I won't
need to inquire. I'm going to know as I'm known.
So what's he talking about here? This is not living. This is,
right now, and here's what he's saying, that I may dwell all
the days of my life, the rest of the days of my life, in the
presence of the Lord, in the fellowship of the Lord, as a
son in his house, as a member of the family. and fellowship
with Christ. If I have fellowship with Christ,
I don't need anything else. And I don't want to go out and
come in. I don't want to visit the Lord's house once a week.
I want to dwell in his presence and dwell in his fellowship and
dwell in his house as a son to behold his beauty. I look
for help on this. Psalm 90 has it. The beauty of
the Lord. The beauty of His righteousness,
His goodness, His mercy, His love. Listen to Psalm 90 verse
16. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants, let thy glory appear unto their children, and let
the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou
the work of our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands, establish
thou the beauty of the Lord, His goodness, righteousness. mercy, and love. I see it. Let me dwell in his fellowship,
in his presence, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and listen,
and to inquire. I won't have to inquire there.
I'll know as I have been known. But I need to inquire now. That's
what Paul said, Philippians 3. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection, that I might learn that all is vanity, that
I might learn that Christ is all, that I might grow in grace
and knowledge of Christ, that I may make my calling and election
sure. One thing I desire, and that
will I seek after. that I may dwell in the presence
and fellowship of the Lord all the days of my life, and be able
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and constantly inquire into his
will, his way, his truth, his word.